So it seems that Bissell is getting into the rental business. I just read that they plan on setting up areas that will rent their Big Green Deep Cleaning Machine and its accompanying products. Apparently of the 800 stores they plan on launching in several hundred of them will be Lowe’s. Bissell will be charging $24.99 a day for rentals plus the cost of chemicals and any other attachments that may be needed.

One of Bissell’s main competitors will be the Rug Doctor, whom Bissell believes they will have a leg up on. They say that their machine is faster and easier to use than other similar units. The Big Green Deep Cleaning Machine has rotating Dirtlifter brushes that rotate backwards and forwards and a DryAire function that heats the carpet to help speed up drying times. The units also have a removable tank for clean and waste water. The pricing and the kiosk set up will be similar to that of Rug Doctor. But it appears that the main difference could possibly be in the cost of buying one of the units. Bissell plans on selling their Big Green Deep Cleaning Machine for around $400 while the Rug Doctor unit starts out around $600.

Bissell believes that they can become the leader in the carpet cleaner rental market. They feel that even though the market may be a bit slow now, it still has the potential to hit several hundred million dollars in sales annually. This is apparently enough motivation for them to branch out with this addition to their business.

Here are some tips and criteria on what o look for when scouting out a professional cleaning company.

For starters, you dont want to go to the cheapest company in your city. Cheaper is not always going to be better when dealing with a service. Chances are, the cheap price cleaners use cheap equipment, cheap chemicals, and cheap labor. This is a disaster waiting to happen. When cheap cleaning companies don’t do the work properly, it can worsen the carpet.

Anyone can start their own carpet cleaning business with very little money up front. The problem is, more than half of the carpet cleaning businesses that were started this year were started with the wrong equipment, wrong chemicals, and an extreme lack of training.

The right equipment should consist of, at bare minimum, truck-mounted carpet cleaning equipment. This kind of equipment usually will cost around $10k-30k. Most of the cheap carpet cleaning companies use portable equipment. Unfortunately, they use machines that can be rented at your local grocery store. Because they have more power, truck mounted equipment is able to perform at a higher level that portable equipment.

It is important to use the right chemicals. Cheap carpet cleaning chemicals are high in residue and cause soil to attract to the carpet after cleaning. There is not one cheap cleaning agent used to succesfully treat spots. Having the best spot removal agents on the truck is a necessity if the cleaner wants to do the job right. A poor job can be dont if he doesn’t.

Lets not forget about the guy cleaning your carpet? With cheap companies, you are more likely to have someone working in your home who has not had a background check performed. It’s also very unlikely that much, if any, training was given for specialty spot removal. A job like this must be done very quickly at break neck spead for the company to make any money at all. He wouldn’t be able to do a good job even if he tried.

You are likely to receive a run-around if spots return. The cheaper companies are never going to be capable of guranteeing that their work is done right.

When a company charges a cheap price, you can expect them to deliver cheap service. If they clean with the right equipment, chemicals, and qualified cleaning technicians, they can’t stay in business charging the cheapest prices.

When hiring a carpet cleaner, you should know that you get what you pay for. The coupons that are cheap can deceive you. When cleaning businesses under-charge, that means they cannot afford to give you the best level of service. When dealing with something as valuable as your carpet, the attempt to save a few bucks can turn into a cost of thousands of dollars in the long run.